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Parties eyeing likely contenders for N. Sumatra election
Political parties are gearing up for November's gubernatorial race as they look for possible contenders that can taken on Medan Mayor Bobby Nasution, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's son-in-law.
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Three blind voters (right in each booth) are assisted on Feb. 14 at a polling station in Medan, North Sumatra, as they cast their ballots in the 2024 general election. (AFP/Kartik Byma)
W
ith a little less than eight months to go until this year’s regional head elections in 271 provinces, regencies and municipalities, the list of potential contenders in North Sumatra’s gubernatorial race has started to take shape as political parties mull over which politicians to endorse.
The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said recently that it would back its own candidates in the elections on Nov. 27.
“Based on the political reality, the PDI-P will back our own members as candidates for governor and deputy governor,” Sutrisno Pangaribuan of PDI-P’s North Sumatra branch said on March 25, as quoted by Tribunnews.com.
Sutrisno added that the party was looking at several names, including PDI-P North Sumatra chief Rapidin Simbolon and former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (BTP), formerly known as “Ahok”, but it had yet to make a decision.
There is speculation that Basuki might seek reelection as Jakarta governor.
Political parties have been considering potential contenders after Medan Mayor Bobby Nasution, son-in-law of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, announced earlier in March that he would be running for North Sumatra governor, though he did not say which political parties were backing him.
Bobby was kicked out of the PDI-P late last year for declaring his support for Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and Surakarta Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka, his brother-in-law, in the 2024 presidential election.
